Selff-serving store



E. M."S?T1LES.' SELF SERVINGTSTQRE- APPLICATION FILED AUG.22. 191s.

, Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

v 3 SHEETS-SHEET l- E. M. STILES.

SELF SERVING STORE.

APPLICATION HLED Aue.22. ma.

1 ,3'2 1 ,5? 1 Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. M. STILES.

SELF SERVING STORE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.22.1918.

Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3. A

EDWARD M. STILES, 0F MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA.

SELF-SERVING STORE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Nov, 11, 1919,

Application. filed August 22, 1918. Serial No. 250,910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD M. STILEs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mount Pleasant, in the county of Henry and State of Iowa,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-ServingStores, of which the following is a specifi-' cation.

This invention relates to store and store furniture construction bymeans of which a customer is enabled to select the goods he desires topurchase without the assistance of an attendant, and has for its objectthe provision of an improved structure of the character named.

The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of partsshown in the accompanying drawings and described in the followingspecification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a storeroom therebeinganentrance 13 to the store .at

the front thereof in the usual manner. Just w1thin the door 13 is asmall lobby 14 which is separated from the main salesroom' 15 by arailing 15' extending transverselyof the storeroo A. passage 16havin aturnstile or one ay. closure 17 leads From the lobby 14 to he salesroom15 and a second passage 18 h ving a similar oneway closure 19 isprovided for the return of customers from the s alesroom to the lobby.Along the wall 10 at the customers leftas he enters the salesroom, is adispla ca'binet20 which may consist of a series 0 shelves, as shown inFig. 2 of the drawings, or maybe of any form best adapted for thecharacter of goods to 'be sold. Along the rear wall 11 areother-cabinets 21., 22 and 23 whichmay be" of varied construction toaccommodate goods of different characters. The cabinet 24, similar tocabinet 20, is arranged against the wall opposite the one near thecabinet 20. Within the salesroom 15, and extending parallel with theside Walls, are cabinets 25 and 26 and a railing 27 which divide thesales room into aseries of longitudinal passages or aisles, 28, 29, 30and 31, respectively. The ends of the cabinets 25 and 26 are spaced fromthe rear of the store and are connected by a railing 31 which forms withthe caloinets 21, 22 and 23 a rear passage 32. The front end of thecabinet 24 'is connected with the frontend of the railing 27 by arailing 33 and a checking counter 34 extends parallel with the railing33 and forms therewith a passage 35 leading to. the exit 18. A space 36is provided between the checking counter 34 and the railing 16 which isoccupied by the necessary attendants for checking goods and collectingfor sales. The cabinet 25 is preferably divided longitudinally by apartition 37, shown in Fig. 3, so that shelves on one side of thecabinet will face the aisle 28- and the shelves on the other side willface the aisle 29. The cabinet 26 is preferably open to both sides, asshown in Fig. 3.

It is desirable to arrange a store of th1s kind in which generalmerchandise is sold ,so that two classes of customers may be readilyaccommodated. Some customers visiting the store desire to do a generalmarket ing and buy several different kinds of goods. There are othercustomers who come to the storefor the express purpose of buying onlyone or two articles which they have definitely in mind before theyenter, the store. When a store is arranged according to the presentinvention, both of these classes of customers may be accommodated withthe greatest convenience to the: customers themselves and withoutinterference between the customers wishing to do the two kinds ofshopping. The customer who wishes to do .a general marketing, enters thestore "the exit 18 into the lobby 14 and thence to the street. It shouldbe noted that during a part of the course followed by the customer. hehas a railing at one side and shelves at -the other. The shelves alongthis v part of the passage are stocked with the goods which it is mostdesirable to give the customer plenty of opportunity to examine. Thefact that there are goods along one side of the passage only, preventsthe customers attention from being distracted from one side to theother, and insures his seeing the entire display. Other portions of thepassage, such as the aisle 28 are provided with shelving on both sidesand this shelving may be stocked with goods which requires littleinspectionand which constitute the every day needs of customers. Goodsof this character thecustomer will buy without their being especiallybrought to his attention,

while the shelving in the aisles 29 and 30 may be stocked with goodswhich might be overlooked. The goods in the shelving along aisle 28 willalso naturally be the goods which the customers will make a special tripto the store to secure, and therefore, the arrangement is suchthat acustomer may easily have access to this aisle without the necessity of'passing through the entire ,circuitous route provided for the generalshop- I per. The shelving along. the aisle 28 may be stocked with uchthings as canned goods, tea, coffee, break-fast foods, soap, washingpowder, etc., and acustomer who wishes a can of corn, or a bar of soap,may enter the passage 16 along the broken lines .39 and go to theshelving along the aisle 28 where these goods are kept and, withoutcontinuing throu h the other parts'of the store, may go direct'y throughthe passage 40 at the forward end of the counter 25 to the checkingcounter and then to the exit. .This he may do without interfering in anyway with the .customers following the complete route throughthe storeand without Wasting any of his own time.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, only one route is providedthroughout the store and a continuous railing 41 is so arranged that thecustomer has the shelving at one side only, during his entire passagefrom the entrance 42 to the exit 43. In this figure -a stopkroom 44 isshown at the rear of the store which is entered through a door 45leading from the salesroom, to the stockroom. A single cabinet 46 in theinterior of the room is provided with a central partition like that inthe cabinet 25 in the form previously described so that the goods on oneside of the cabinet are viewed by the customer as he passes along oneaisle and the" goods in the other side of the cabinet are accessiblefrom the next aisle. This arrangement of the storeis especially valuablewhere it is not desired to accommodate customers who come for articlespreviously selected by them, but where it is wished to permit thecustomer to inspect all of the goods in the store before he comes to theexit.

I claim:

1. In a self-serving store. a pluralitypf cabinets arrangedsubstantially parallel with one another and spaced apart, and a railingarranged to cocperate with said cabinets to form a passage along oneside wall of said store from the front to the rear thereof and thenceacross the rear of said store to the opposite side thereof and thencealong the opposite side toward the front of. said store, said railingbeing arranged at one side of said passage throughout a part of itslength along which a cabinet is arranged at the opposite side of saidpassage.

2. In a self-serving store, a plurality of cabinets arranged thereinsubstantially parallel with one another and spaced apart, and a. railingarranged to coiiperate with said cabinets to form a passageway along oneside of said store from the front to the rear thereof, thence across theback of said store to the opposite side thereof, thence forwardly alongsaid opposite side of said store, thence rearwardly to a point adjacentthe passage across the rear end of said store, thence forwardly again toan exit passageway.

cabinets arranged therein substantially parallelwith one another andspaced apart, and a railing arranged to cooperate with said cabinets,said railing and cabinets forming a continuous passageway extending fromthe front to the rear of said store along one side thereof, thenceacross the rear of said store to the opposite side thereof, thence alongsaid opposite side to the front of said store, thence rearwardly to apoint adjacent the passage across the rear end of said store, thenceforwardly to an exit passageway, said passage having a railing at oneside thereof and a cabinet at the other side thereof during a part ofits length so that a customer moving along said passage may examine allof the goods displayed along said part of said passage Without turningfrom one side to the other thereof.

4. In a self-serving store, a plurality of display cabinets arrangedsubstantially parallel with one another and spaced apart, railingscooperating with said cabinets to form a continuous circuitouspassageway extending from the entranceto the exit of said store and ashorter and more direct passageway from said entrance to said exit,which shorter passageway includes only a part of said display cabinets.

5. A store constructlon compnsing a plurality of display cabinetsarranged substan- 3. In a self-serving store, a plurality of nets toprovide a continuous circuitous passageway extending from the entranceto the exit of said store, and a by-pass extending from a point alongsaid first-mentioned passage to the exit of said store.

6. A store construction comprising a plurality of display cabinetsarranged parallel with one another and spaced apart, two of saidcabinets ha ing adjacent ends thereof spaced from a wall of said storeand connected by a. railing forming a passage between said wall and saidrailing. and a second railing extending between said cabinets to formtwo adjacent. passageways between said cabinets, said second railinghaving the end thereof spaced from said first-aneutioned railing to forma connection for the passageways between said cabinets.

T, In a storeroom construction, a series of cabinets arranged along thetwo opposite side walls and the iear wall of said store room, a. pair ofcabinets within said storev room extending parallel with the side wallsthereof and spaced from said side walls and from one. another, the rearends of said pair of cabinets being spaced from the rear of saidstoreroo n and connected by a railing to form a passage across the rearof said stOl't. a railing extending between the cabinets of said pair todivide the space therebetween into two passageway, the rear end of saidrailing being spaced from the railing connecting the rear ends of saidpair of cabinets, and a third railing connecting the forward end of saidsecond railing with one side wall of said store, said third railingbeing spaced from the forward end of one of said pair of cabinets toform a passage around the end of said cabinet, the forward end of theother of said pair of cabinets being spaced from the front wall of saidstore to form a by-pass from a point adjacent the entrance of said storeto the exit thereof.

8. A' storeroom construction coinprisinga plurality of cabinets andrailings extending substantially parallel and alternating with oneanother within said storerooin and having passageways therebet-ueen.said cabinets and railings forming side walls for said passageways. andmeans for connecting adjacent ends of alternate side walls of saidpassageways to close the ends of adjacent passageways. the intermediateside wall be tween the passageways thus closed being spaced from saidclosing means to form a connection between said adjacentpassageways. thewhole thus forming a continuous circuitous route from the. entrance ofsaid storeroom to the exit thereof a port-ion of which route is providedwith a display cabinet at one side thereof and a railing at the oppositeside thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this19th day of August. A. D. 1918.

EDWARD M. STILES.

